Dylan Baker, Omar Metwally, and More Set to Perform at Williamstown Theatre Festival This Week

The Williamstown Theatre Festival has revealed additional casting and artists for this week’s exciting slate of performances. At the WTF Cabaret, Ari Notartomaso joins the previously announced Eden Espinosa, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Jon-Michael Reese, and Lee Wilkof along with host Lewis Black. The Main Stage reading of Three Sisters by Anton Chekov, in a translation by Paul Schmidt and directed by Kristjan Thor, will feature Dylan Baker, Juliana Canfield, Sean Finnegan, Omar Metwally, and Jo Yang, joining previously announced real-life siblings Grace Gummer, Henry Wolfe Gummer, Mamie Gummer, and Louisa Jacobson, as well as Edmund Donovan, Robert Sean Leonard, John Rothman, and Dario Ladani Sanchez. And finally, the Friday @ 3 reading of Chapters of a Floating Life, the new play by Clarence Coo and directed by Jennifer Chang, will feature Grant Chang, James Chen, Leah Getz, Teresa Avia Lim, and Diana Oh.

The WTF Cabaret is curated in partnership with Tony Award nominee and Festival mainstay Christopher Fitzgerald. Joel Waggoner serves as music director withStephanie Layton as associate music director.

Next week’s cabaret (Thursday, August 3 – Saturday, August 5) will be hosted by Jaye McBride and will feature performances by Eden Espinosa, Asmeret Ghebremichael, Jon-Michael Reese, Eleri Ward, and Samantha Williams. Additional guest artists will be announced soon.

Each weekend of the Festival, the WTF Cabaret series will play at the ‘62 Center for Theatre & Dance (1000 Main St, Williamstown, MA) on Thursdays and Fridays at 8 PM and Saturdays at 10 PM. Table seating is $70 and traditional seating is $50 (prices include a $5 processing fee per ticket). Seating is general admission. Tables will be assigned when checking in at the theater.

Get up close and personal with beloved Festival actors at the Main Stage Reading Series, where new and classic plays come to life on the specially created intimate 2023 Festival Stage. Watch as the creative process unfolds before you and experience these works in exhilarating new ways.

The reading of Three Sisters will be held at the ‘62 Center for Theatre & Dance (1000 Main St, Williamstown, MA) with performances on Saturday, July 29 at 3 PM & 7 PM and Sunday, July 30 at 3 PM. All performances of Three Sisters are currently sold out and the wait list for cancelations is at capacity.

The beloved Prozorov family returns to Williamstown Theatre Festival this summer to recount their timeless and tumultuous tale of existential longing. In this Chekhov classic, sisters Olga, Masha, and Irina yearn for the promise of Moscow while grappling with the tribulations of unrequited love and family drama at home. In the wake of their father’s death and a changing Russia, the women must face the reality of their choices and take responsibility for their uncertain futures. 

Finally, the Friday@3 reading of Chapters of a Floating Life will be held at the Clark Auditorium (225 South Street, Williamstown, MA). Tickets are $15; seating is general admission with reservations required.

Two couples from China try to make ends meet in New York City in the wake of the Second World War. One husband and wife live uptown, obsessed with a past of poetry, painting, and gardens. Another pair face the day-to-day reality of keeping a Chinatown restaurant in business. Their worlds, previously separated by class and education, converge when the two women find each other in Central Park and fall under the spell of the Chinese language.

UPCOMING AT THE FESTIVAL

MAIN STAGE READING SERIES

Saturday, August 5 & Sunday, August 6

The Pillowman

By Martin McDonagh

Directed by Lila Neugebauer

Featuring Michael Chernus, Alison Pill

WTF’s upcoming reading of Martin McDonagh’s The Pillowman will be directed by Drama Desk and Obie Award winner Lila Neugebauer, featuring Drama Desk Award winner Alison Pill and Obie Award winner Michael Chernus.

They say life imitates art – but what happens when that art is horror? In a totalitarian dictatorship, young author Katurian is interrogated by the authorities after a string of child murders bears a striking resemblance to his grisly short stories. When his brother admits to the murders and implicates Katurian and their troubled childhood, more complicated questions arise – is it really possible to separate art from artist? Widely regarded as one of the greatest plays of the last 25 years, The Pillowman is as dark as comedies get and is sure to keep audiences glued to the edge of their seats. 

FRIDAYS@3 READING SERIES

August 4

Wipeout

By Aurora Real de Asua

Directed by Maggie Burrows

Featuring Emily Kuroda and Becky Ann Baker

It’s Gary’s 77th birthday and all she wants to do is surf. The only problem? She’s never stepped foot on a board before. But with the help of a hot-rod teenage surf instructor and the company of her two best friends, Gary is about to go on the ride of her life. As the three women navigate the currents of the Pacific, they must confront seven decades of secrets and sacrifices, not to mention the odd jellyfish or two.

ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE WORKSHOPS

Play development is a year-round activity at WTF. Every summer, the Festival supports new work in development by inviting artists to participate in residencies and workshops. We’re thrilled to welcome the following artists and projects to Williamstown this summer. 

Breaking the Binary Theatre is a new work development and community building hub wherein transgender, non-binary, and Two-Spirit+ (TNB2S+) artists come together to reclaim our artistic license and liberty on our own terms in spaces built by and for us. Breaking the Binary Theatre hosts a number of programs and initiatives, including our flagship artistic event each October: the all-TNB2S+ Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival. @BreakingTheBinaryTheatre on Instagram. www.btb-nyc.com. 
 

TWITCH

By Liliana Padilla (they/them)

Directed by Jack Ferver (they/them)

Dramaturgy by Desiree S. Mitton (she/they)

Produced by Breaking the Binary Theatre

Following their collaboration as a part of the inaugural Breaking the Binary Theatre Festival in October of 2022, playwright Liliana Padilla (they/them), director Jack Ferver (they/them), dramaturg Desiree S. Mitton (she/they) are reuniting with several of their BTB collaborators to further dive into the world of TWITCH as part of Breaking the Binary Theatre's 2023 Falco and Steinman Residency Program.

Nightdrive makes rigorously irreverent, demandingly vulnerable, borderline-impossible plays that use indelible moments of stagecraft to build thrillingly personal relationships with audiences. Their work includes an apocalypse around a campfire (The Grown-Ups, Time Out New York’s Top 10 NYC Theatre Productions of 2021); a live immersive alien movie (Alien Nation); a five-dimensional community meeting with a full pancake breakfast cooked on stage (Providence, RI); a haunted rock concert (Thank You Sorry); and a hybrid comic book with interactive animation (Apathy Boy). They’ve been semifinalists for the American Playwriting Foundation’s Relentless Award, finalists for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and resident artists at Pipeline Theatre Company and Ars Nova.
 

Society

By Skylar Fox and Simon Henriques

Society is part play, part participatory focus group, part collective fever dream, presented around a giant conference table. You can’t believe they still ask you back in for more sessions—it feels like you’ve been going there forever. But the money’s decent, and it costs so much to live in this city. And there are snacks. It’s supposed to be a different group in there every time, but a couple people are starting to look familiar. Maybe you’re just imagining things. But they’re staring at you, too, right?

Waterwell is a group of artists, educators, and producers dedicated to telling engrossing stories that deliberately wrestle with complex civic questions in unexpected ways. WW creates productions that are creatively daring and emotionally potent to cultivate connections across real and perceived divides. www.waterwell.org

Plate Spinner Productions is a production company working across entertainment media. PSP is committed to developing, nurturing, and producing unique and dynamic stories that challenge artists and audiences to question the status quo, and believe that a fair and equitable world is possible. www.platespinnerproductions.com 
 

A Good Day to Me Not to You

By Lameece Issaq 

Directed by Lee Sunday Evans

A co-production of Waterwell and Plate Spinner Productions

Writer and actor Lameece Issaq teams up with two-time Obie winner Lee Sunday Evans on her riotously funny and gut-wrenching new play about a 40-whatever dental lab tech who gets fired and moves into St. Agnes Residence, a woman's boarding house run by nuns. While there, she must come to terms with her unfulfilled path to motherhood, the untimely death of her sister, and earth-shaking news about her beloved nephew – all while fending off her unpredictable and sometimes deranged cohabitants. Performed by Issaq in a story-telling tour-de-force.

In addition to these companies, please visit the WTF website for a full list of artists who will be joining us in residence this summer.

“A NEW BRAIN”

PRODUCED IN PARTNERSHIP

WITH BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY

As previously announced, Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF) will partner with Barrington Stage Company (BSC) to present the 1998 musical A New Brain, featuring music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Finn and James Lapine, and direction by Joe Calarco. 

A New Brain will feature Adam Chanler-Berat, Demond Green, Andy Grotelueschen, Dorcas Leung, Darrell Purcell, Justine Horihata Rappaport, Eliseo Román, Tally Sessions, Salome B. Smith, and three-time Tony Award nominee Mary Testa.

A New Brain will play from Wednesday, August 16 through Sunday, September 10 on BSC’s Boyd-Quinson Stage (30 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA). Opening night is Sunday, August 20. Tickets for A New Brain can be purchased now directly through the BSC Box Office at (413) 236-8888 or by visiting barringtonstageco.org/tickets. For more information about A New Brain, including updated masking policies, please visit www.barringtonstageco.org.

WTF CABARET BIOGRAPHIES

Ari Notartomaso (they/them) stars as "Cynthia" in the musical prequel series, “Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies”. They recently shot the film adaptation of Mean Girls: The Musical, directed by Tina Fey, and made their feature debut in the hit horror franchise Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin. Ari made their Los Angeles stage debut in the world premiere of the Pat Benatar musical Invincible at the Wallis Annenberg Center For The Performing Arts. Trained in musical theatre with a degree from Penn State, Ari has amassed a loyal social media following for putting a queer twist on musical theatre classics. They are based in New York.

MAINSTAGE READING BIO

Dylan Baker. Theatre: Medea (BAM), Bernhardt/Hamlet, The Front Page, The Audience, God of Carnage, November, Mauritius, La Bête (Tony & Drama Desk nominations), Eastern Standard, Homebody/Kabul, Not About Heroes (Obie Award). Film: Selma; Happiness (IFP Gotham Award & Independent Spirit Award nomination);Anchorman 2; Spider-Man 2 and 3; Secretariat; Revolutionary Road; Across the Universe; Hide and Seek; Head of State; The Road to Perdition; Trick ‘r Treat; Disclosure; The Long Walk Home; Fido; Along Came a Spider; Thirteen Days; Delirious; Planes, Trains, & Automobiles. Television: “Inside Man,” “Hunters,” “Little Women,” “Homeland,” “The Americans,” “I’m Dying Up Here,” “The Laramie Project,” “The Good Wife” (Three Emmy Award nominations), “Confirmation,” “Damages,” “Murder One.” Feature film directorial debut: 23 Blast.

Juliana Canfield. Off-Broadway theatre credits include Fefu and her Friends (TFANA), Sunday (Atlantic Theatre Company), The House That Will Not Stand (NYTW), He Brought Her Heart Back in a Box (TFANA), Zurich (Colt Coeur). Film and television credits include “Succession” (HBO), “The Calling” (Peacock), “Y: The Last Man” (FX), “Amazing Stories” (Amblin/Apple), The Assistant, On the Rocks, The Neighbor’s Window (short, Academy Award Winner). BA: Yale College. MFA: Yale School of Drama.

Sean Finnegan is a New York-based actor originally from Williamstown, Massachusetts where he first found his love for acting here at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. He graduated from Northwestern University in 2019 majoring in theater and minoring in classical studies. When he is not acting, he is an avid outdoorsman, taking many trips over the years to different wild parts of North America.  He is so excited to be back at the Williamstown Theatre Festival again.

Omar Metwally is happy to be returning to Williamstown Theatre Festival. His theater work includes Guards at the Taj (Obie award, Atlantic Theater Company,) Epiphany(Lincoln Center,) American Hero (Williamstown) Sixteen Wounded (Tony nomination,) The Fever Chart, As You Like It (Public Theatre,) Homebody/Kabul (Steppenwolf,) among others. Films include Munich, Rendition, Non-Stop, Complete Unknown, Miral. Television: “Big Sky” (ABC,) “The Affair” (Showtime,) “Mr Robot” (USA,) “RAMY” (Hulu,) “Lisey’s Story” (Apple,) “Treadstone” (USA,) among others. Omar is a graduate of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco.

Jo Yang is pleased to join Williamstown Theatre Festival in the reading of this classic play. She hails from New York City where she was most recently seen in the Ensemble Studio Theatre’s first BIPOC Marathon of One Act Plays. She originated the role of Sook Ja, the youngest of an elderly trio bred as a Korean deep-sea diver, in productions of Celine Song’s Endlings at the American Repertory Theater and the

New York Theatre Workshop. Additionally, she has worked off-Broadway at theatres including 2nd Stage, the Public, Rattlestick Theater, Urban Stages, and regionally at the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Seattle’s Group Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, American Conservatory Theater, and Florida Repertory Theatre, among others. Recent television: “Nora from Queens,” “The Equalizer,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and “The Affair.” As she’s the last hold

out on social media, more of her tv/film credits can be found at:

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0946009/?ref_=fn_al_nm_2

ABOUT WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL

For seven decades, the Tony Award-recognized Williamstown Theatre Festival has brought emerging and professional theater artists together in the Berkshires to create a thrilling summer festival of diverse, world premiere plays and musicals, bold new revivals, and a rich array of accompanying cultural events.

Artists are drawn to Williamstown Theatre Festival to make great theater in an environment conducive to artistic risk-taking. Matthew Broderick, Audra McDonald, Dominique Morisseau, Mary-Louise Parker, Susan Stroman, Uma Thurman, and Blair Underwood are just a few of the luminous theater artists who have worked at the Festival. Many others, including Sterling K. Brown, Ty Burrell, Charlie Day, Paul Giamatti, Kathryn Hahn, Allison Janney, Brie Larson, Chris Pine, and George C. Wolfe, began their careers at the Festival.

Productions and artists shaped at the Festival fill theaters in New York City and around the world. Recently, Williamstown Theatre Festival was represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally by The Sound Inside, Grand Horizons, The Rose Tattoo, The Visit, Fool for Love, The Elephant Man, Seared, Selling Kabul, Unknown Soldier, and Lempicka, to name just a few. Cost of Living, which was developed and premiered at Williamstown Theatre Festival, was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and made its Broadway debut last fall.

Learn more about Williamstown Theatre Festival at www.wtfestival.org.

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